Tarrin bowed his head as he folded in his wings over Val, completely unafraid of what he was about to do. Val, sensing his power, realizing what was about to happen, screamed and howled in terror, trying to break free, but his darkness was totally surrounded by Tarrin's light, and he could not escape. He was trapped, imprisoned once again by his most hated foe, and he could only scream in a voice that could not contain his outrage, his terror, even as he did attempt to strike at Tarrin with all the power he could bring to bear.

But it was too late.

Mother, Tarrin's voice called out, totally at peace. Take care of them for me. I love you.

And then, in a cataclysmic explosion of all of Tarrin's focused power, he destroyed Val. And in so doing, he destroyed himself.

The death of a god was a release of energies too vast to be contained by the material world. The destruction of two in a simultaneous event was more than the planet could have withstood, had the combined might of every god of Sennadar not been there to contain that release. The black pyramid, that man-made mountain rising up from the flat tundra, shuddered in the instant of that destruction, and then it was vaporized by a light brighter than a thousand suns, a light that erupted into a massive cataclysm of fire and energy that formed at the point of destruction, and then expanded away from it faster than any horse could ever run and any bird could ever fly. It manifested as a hellish sphere of fire that expanded in every direction, including down, utterly destroying everything it touched. It raced away like a shockwave, travelling impossibly fast, but not so fast that those mortals who glanced back did not see it racing towards them.

Jesmind, Jasana, and the dragon that carried them were three such mortals. Jesmind screamed in terror when she saw the flash, then looked behind to see a wall of fire raging towards them so fast it would overtake them in a matter of seconds.

"Mama!" Jasana wailed, turning and clutching at her mother desperately, so desperately that she nearly fell off the dragon. Jesmind held onto her tightly, sure that the dragon would never get away from that.

All of that effort to get away, and it was for nothing! Nothing!

She saw strange lights ahead of them. They were incandescent balls of light floating in the sky, and with some surprise, she realized somehow that they had to be the gods. So, they had finally shown up! Well it was a little too bloody late for them now!

Move, dragon! the voice of the Goddess touched both Jesmind and the dragon. You must get past us before the fires reach you!

That seemed to spur the dragon on. It beat its wings in a frenzied manner, frantically trying to outrun certain death as it raced up towards them from behind. Jesmind clutched at Jasana as the little girl wailed and cried uncontrollably, wanting to cry herself, but so much had happened that she was almost numb with shock. She could only look behind her and watch the broiling fireball roar towards them, watch with some distant interest as it consumed Goblinoids on the ground behind them, Goblinoids that had been closest to the pyramid when the earthquakes began, and hadn't had the time to get away. She looked ahead and saw the blazing lights of the gods before them, and now she could make out bodies within those blinding lights, lights of every imaginable color, lights that encircled the fireball. The ones she could see before her had their hands raised, as if to repel the fireball that was rushing towards them.

She looked back once more, and saw that it was so close that she could almost feel its heat. And from that distance, in a strange kind of way, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Then the terror of certain death gripped her, tore her back into reality, and she screamed out her fear as she squeezed the little girl in her arms desperately, as if she could protect her from the fire with the power of sheer will and holding onto her as tightly as she could.

But certain death would not claim Jesmind that day. The dragon sizzled between two of the gods with the fireball hot on its tail, and then the gods set themselves in a unifying movement as the fireball reached them. It struck something solid before the gods, a something that suddenly bulged from the strain of containing all that unbridled power, but did not break, containing the full fury of the fire safely inside it. The shock of the impact transferred through the protective shield of godly might, sending a concussive shockwave away from them that knocked everyone down it struck, everyone but the largest of the dragons, who dug in their claws and relied on their raw size to let them withstand the blow. That shockwave struck the dragon and its riders, and only Jesmind's inhuman strength locking her legs around the dragon's scaly neck managed to let her keep from getting dislodged from her mount. The dragon shrieked in pain and fear as it was catapulted forwards by the impact, turning over in the air, and for a terrifying moment Jesmind looked up and saw the ground. But the dragon somehow managed to twist in the air, righting itself, though it had lost a great deal of altitude. It tried to pull up, and partially did so, but it still hit the ground fast enough to send Jesmind and Jasana flying over its head. Jesmind tucked in her body and relied on her innate sense of presence in the air, knowing exacty where the ground was at all times in relation to her position, and it let her hit feet first. She rolled to absorb the forward momentum, keeping Jasana safely tucked away and out of harm, then skidded to a stop. She dropped to her knees immediately, hugging her sobbing child to her with trembling arms, unable to believe that they had actually managed to get away from that alive.

Jasana couldn't stop crying, clutching onto her mother with her little claws digging into Jesmind's sides and her face buried in Jesmind's breast. She tried to comfort her terrified child as best she could, but the terror of that ordeal was so strong in her that she wanted to be comforted.

Jesmind looked up woodenly, to where the gods had been floating. One by one, they disappeared, winked out of sight, as if stopping the fireball had been all that was required of them. That angered Jesmind quite a bit, but she bit back that anger when she looked around and realized that the dragon had crashed among the armies that had been summoned to battle Val and his Goblinoids and Demons. They extended on for a great distance, and she realized that their army must have gotten safely away from the explosion.

The explosion! That had happened at the pyramid, and that's where Tarrin had been! Her mate couldn't be hurt by fire, so she was pretty sure that he was still alive, but, Goddess, what power! Did that mean that Tarrin won? Had he truly done the impossible and somehow managed to defeat a god?

A bright light over her head made her look up, and she saw that not all the gods had departed. There were ten left, and she realized dully that they were the Elder Gods. Those ten deities looked down at them, but they were too far away for Jesmind to see their expressions. But she did hear the voice of the Goddess touch her mind.

It seems that your services are no longer required, she said in a heavy, exhausted manner. Could gods really get tired? It certainly sounded like it. Don't worry, we're about to send you all back to where you came from. When you arrive, we'll make sure that people are told what happened, so you can know. You deserve that much for what you have done here today. Go with our blessing, and know that we are both pleased and grateful for what you have done here today.

Jesmind saw the light surrounding them flare suddenly-

– -and then she was kneeling on the cool grass of the Tower grounds, not far from the Knights' training field, along with all of Tarrin's sisters and friends, all the Knights and katzh-dashi, and quite a few Wikuni Marines and Arakite Legionaires.